New law bicycle-friendly

Mike Wiser

Monday

Apr 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 28, 2008 at 8:38 AM

Drivers, take note: Pass less than 3 feet from a bicyclist and you’re breaking the law. The legislation, which took effect Jan. 1, was fervently supported by groups like the Illinois Bicyclists League and practically sailed through the Legislature. It passed 57-0 in the Senate and 107-8 in the House.

Drivers, take note: Pass less than 3 feet from a bicyclist and you’re breaking the law.

The legislation, which took effect Jan. 1, was fervently supported by groups like the Illinois Bicyclists League and practically sailed through the Legislature. It passed 57-0 in the Senate and 107-8 in the House.

It was welcome news to Jordan Heimer, 21, who spends several hours perched on two wheels each week.

“I was riding home from work one day ... I was in a down position on my road bike and a truck passed so close to me that his mirror went right over my head,” said Heimer, who works at Kegel’s Bicycle Store on Charles Street in Rockford.

Heimer commutes to work on his bicycle but says he stays mostly on the sidewalks since the most direct route takes him down Charles Street. He said the roads around Rockford are great for biking, it’s just a matter of getting out of the city to get to them.

“There are some drivers that just don’t want us on the road,” he said. “Just last Saturday I was in a group with about eight people and this guy in an SUV was following real close behind us. We waved him (to pass) and he pulls up alongside, real close, and starts yelling and swearing at us.”

Stays with country roads
Jerry Rice of Roscoe said he hasn’t had any problems with drivers, but he sticks mostly to the country roads on the outskirts of the city. Rice, 81, is relatively new to cycling. He picked the sport up six years ago after looking for a way to stay in shape and be outside.

He celebrated his 80th birthday by riding 80 miles. He’s 5,300 miles short of riding the distance of the circumference of the earth — 24,905 miles — a goal he thinks he’ll reach this year.

Thursday morning, he was setting out with a group of riders for their weekly ride. They take off at 9 a.m. from Rockford’s Faith Center on South Main Street and ride “either to Winnebago or Pecatonica. We have lunch and ride back,” Rice explained.

Tough to enforce
Heimer said even though he’s had some problems, Rockford is still a better place to ride than even such well-known bicycle friendly cities as Madison, Wis.

“I worked at a shop in Madison for about six months, and just about every other day we had someone come in with a bike that had been hit by a car,” he said. “We don’t get that amount here.”

Heimer appreciates the intent of the law but figures police will have a hard time enforcing it. That opinion is shared by local police officials and even the law’s sponsor, state Sen. Ed Maloney, D-Chicago.

“I did it more for the awareness and education aspect,” Maloney said. “Before, the law was there had to be a ‘safe distance’ when passing, but what is that?”

The law was written without established penalties. Maloney said it’s up to the “local authorities to decide what a violation should constitute.” He hopes to get the law included in driver’s education curriculum. With more people at least aware of the law, Maloney thinks, there will be fewer accidents.

Rockford Deputy Police Chief Theo Glover said the law sounds tailor-made for enforcement by the city’s bike unit “since they are probably more aware on a day-to-day basis” of navigating the city on two wheels.

What’s the penalty?
Loves Park Police Chief Patrick Carrigan said he thinks it would be difficult to bring charges against someone for violating the law, unless there’s an obvious case — like an accident.

“If it went to court you’d have to have the officer get up there and swear that the person was less than three feet away,” he said. “I don’t know if you can do that without there being contact.”

Still, Carrigan said, it seems that the city’s bike paths and roadways have become more crowded with cyclists in recent years. That’s what Belvidere Police Chief Jan Noble said, too.

“People are out there on their bicycles,” he said. And Noble promises that his officers will enforce the three-foot rule.

“Any time there’s a new law, there is a grace period we give until it gets known,” Noble said. “We will enforce it.”

Staff writer Mike Wiser can be reached at 815-987-1377 or mwiser@rrstar.com.

The law
“The operator of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle or individual proceeding in the same direction on a highway shall leave a safe distance, but not less than 3 feet, when passing the bicycle or individual and shall maintain that distance until safely past the overtaken bicycle or individual.”

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